CHAPTER FOURTEEN

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“Dammit, Jackson, will you just pick one,” Lindsay barked. “This is the third pharmacy we’ve been to.”

“Relax, this is the one,” he said. “It’s almost closing time. We need to hurry.  It’s a small pharmacy and the pharmacist is alone. He’s young, too.”

“Young?” Lindsay retorted. “You said he was, like thirty.”

He looked at her and sighed, “Whatever. You know what to do, right?”

“We went over it a hundred times. I got it.”

“It was twice, not a hundred.”

Lindsay rolled her eyes, “Unzip my bag and had me the pink makeup kit.”

“You look fine.”

“Just get it for me, Jackson.”

Rainhorse reached into the back seat and unzipped the suitcase and found the pink makeup bag and handed it to her. Lindsay turned the rearview mirror toward her and began to apply makeup, eyeliner and lipstick. Just when he thought she was done, she began to brush her hair.

“That stupid bag made my hair all sweaty.”

“How long is this going to take?” Rainhorse said, gruffly.

“Relax,” she said. “I’m almost finished.”

She blotted her lipstick on a napkin, zipped up her case and handed it to Rainhorse.

He shook his head, “Anything else?”

“One final touch,” she said. “There is a purple striped shirt in the bag. Get it for me.”

“C’mon, girl,” he said. “We’re robbing a pharmacy, not going to the prom.”

She glared at him.

“Ok,” he said.

She pulled off her sweater. The torn shirt was still underneath it. She pulled that off as well and now sat in the passenger seat in only her bra.

“Holy shit,” Rainhorse exclaimed when he noticed it. “Cover those… you know… things up.”

“Things? Don’t be so uptight,” she said. “We’ve already established you’re not a pervert. They’re just boobs, ok? The bra covers as much as a bikini.”

“If that is the case, if I were your dad, I would not be a fan of your bikini top selection,” he snarked.

He tossed her the purple shirt, “Just get the damn thing on before someone walks by. I don’t want to be known as the assassin who was arrested as a pedophile.”

“Fine,” she snipped.

Lindsay slipped on the shirt, leaving the top four buttons open. The shirt fit her very tightly around the waist and chest.

“What do you think?”

Rainhorse looked at Lindsay. She was stunning and looked more like his daughter than ever.

“You look… fine,” he said.

“Fine?  Just fine?”

“No, of course not. Whatever. Are you ready?”

“I’m ready,” she said.

“Thank god.  You go in first,” he said. “I’ll follow in five minutes.”

“Lindsay walked into the drug store.  There was one forty-ish year-old black woman behind the front counter, looking bored, reading a fashion magazine.

“Which way to the pharmacy?” she asked.

The woman never bothered to look up, “All the way in the back. We close in five minutes.”

“Thank you,” she said, walking to the back.

There were no customers at the pharmacy counter—good news. The young man behind the counter was, as Jackson had told her, about thirty, tall, skinny with horn-rimmed glasses and an unfortunate complexion.

She walked up to the counter. The young man, whose name-badge read ‘Aaron,’ glanced up at her, looked down and then perked up again, smiling, “If you have a refill, I can take care of it, but we’re closing in a few minutes, so I can’t fill a brand-new prescription.”

Lindsay leaned over the counter, popping her gum. She pushed her breasts together slightly with her arms as she leaned, “Actually,” she said, “I just need a little information, you know, from an… expert, you know, a pharmacist.”

Aaron’s eyes widened and his mouth gaped open. He used his index finger to push his glasses up, “What kind of information?”

“Well,” she said, looking around, “it’s, you know, personal stuff. Could you help me out in the… feminine hygiene section? I have a couple of questions.”

She smiled at him.

“Oh, yeah, certainly,” he replied. He left the counter and followed her. “By the way, how old are you?”

“I’m eighteen,” she lied.

He looked at her suspiciously, then smiled.

“I have to ask, in case you want to know about… never mind. You’re eighteen.”

They were now forty feet away from the drug counter. She saw Jackson moving toward it.  She positioned herself so that Aaron’s back was to the pharmacy.

“So, what can I help you with?” he asked.

Lindsay pulled three packages off the shelf, a package of feminine wipes, a vaginal deodorant spray and a tube of cleansing wash, “Could you tell me the difference between these three products. I can’t decide.”

Aaron’s face reddened a little, “What do you want to know?”

Over his shoulder, Lindsay could see Jackson moving around, in and out of the prescription drug aisles.

“Whatever you can tell me,” she replied, finally.

She smiled brightly at Aaron. The pharmacist returned the smile.